The Election Commission (EC) has given the go-ahead for central universities to recruit faculty members and non-teaching staff to fill vacancies, provided they make the appointments after the completion of the Lok Sabha poll process, a government official familiar with the matter said.
The HRD ministry had sought the Commission’s approval to fill more than 6,000 teaching and non-teaching positions that are vacant ahead of the 2019-2020 academic session, which begins in June , the official said on condition of anonymity.
The ministry had been keen to fill the vacancies in the next two months, according to the official. With the Model Code of Conduct in place for the duration of the 17th general elections, the ministry had to approach EC for a nod.
“The commission expressed that it has no objection to the starting of the recruitment process subject to the condition that declaration of result and appointments shall be done after the completion of the election process,” the official said.
In January, the SC upheld an Allahabad high court judgment on the recruitment of teachers that said reservations in faculty position should be applied department-wise and are not to be determined by considering the university as a unit.